Heli-Expo Reflects Industry Strength
But Caution is Watchword for Future

Anaheim 1998: HAI's 50th anniversary and a changing of the guard as Frank L. Jensen (l) welcomed Roy D. Resavage as the next president

Heli-Expo returns to Anaheim with both the helicopter industry and the convention city in better shape than they were in 1998.

It took $174 million to revamp the Anaheim convention center and billions more to fix the neighborhood. It took a global economic boom to lift the helicopter industry off the ground and propel it to its present heights.

Can it sustain the boom? Roy Resavage, president of HAI, believes the strength of participation in Heli-Expo is a good bellwether for the industry.

Compared to last year's record Heli-Expo at Las Vegas, Anaheim is set to do very well, he told Show News. Attendance may be down a shade at 12,000 or so versus 14,500, but exhibitors have risen to 478 from 460, floor space is little changed at 179,000 sq. ft, and there will be a similar 60 helicopters on display. "I don't want to say we've turned the corner, but we're seeing positive trends," he said.